oil furnace fire pot question

[darl]

I had a company come in to clean our SummerAire oil furnace. He said the firepot was falling apart and that we needed a new furnace. I brought in another furnace company for a second opinion and and this inspector said the firepot was still fine and he was going to clear the furnace for use. He took out a piece of white insulation that was sitting in the firepot. He said the insulation has nothing to do with the safety of the firepot. So what are some opinions on this? Where did the white fireproof insulation come from?

 

[zrock]

Fire proof insulation is probably on the walls of the furnace to protect user and electronics from heat. As far as who's opinion to believe i would go with the second as he is not going to put his licence on the line, first guy was probably tying to get a sale and some extra work

 

[darl]

Fire proof insulation is probably on the walls of the furnace to protect user and electronics from heat. As far as who's opinion to believe i would go with the second as he is not going to put his licence on the line, first guy was probably tying to get a sale and some extra work

Thank you for your reply. Yes the second guy is even going to call the oil company and have the red flag taken off the furnace so that we can get oil fills again. Crazy. Would you know why the insulation would have fallen into the fire pot? Wouldn't that mean there is a hole somewhere in it? Forgive me. I'm clueless.

 

[zrock]

old age, air circulation could have wiggled it loose... Personally i would not really worry about it if the inspector was not worried.

 

[Millar]

We upgraded our oil furnace with an almost new one . One thing the installer did say was birds can sometimes get trapped and damage the fire pot if it gets brittle so that is the first thing they check . Perhaps you had a visitor that moved the insulation piece and luckily made it out the chimney.

 

[bholler]

Thank you for your reply. Yes the second guy is even going to call the oil company and have the red flag taken off the furnace so that we can get oil fills again. Crazy. Would you know why the insulation would have fallen into the fire pot? Wouldn't that mean there is a hole somewhere in it? Forgive me. I'm clueless.

The insulation is probably part of the burn chamber. It is most likely there to protect the metal behind it so it doesn't burn through. I would generally side with the first guy although that burn chamber can generally be replaced